Early Spanish Florida 1513-1763

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Early Spanish Florida 1513-1763," at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Originally, Spanish Florida included all of Southeastern North America with its many indigenous residents, but after 250 years and many efforts to settle the province, there were only two small military settlements, St. Augustine and Pensacola, 400 miles apart, and a peninsula that was almost devoid of indigenous people. Papers in this session address what happened in La Florida from initial explorations to the final cession to Britan. Presentations include all phases of Spanish colonial approaches including exploration, colonization, missionization, and defense. Papers are presented in chronological order and include current ongoing research, recently completed research, and analysis of multiple studies on selected topics. Both terrestrial and shipwreck sites are included as ships were an integral part of the Spanish occupation and management of Florida.